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Christmas ornament
Christmas ornaments, baubles, "christmas bulbs" or "Christmas bubbles" are decorations (usually made of glass, metal, wood, or ceramics) that are used to festoon a Christmas tree. Ornaments take many different forms, from a simple round ball to highly artistic designs. Ornaments are almost always reused year after year rather than purchased annually, and family collections often contain a combination of commercially produced ornaments and decorations created by family members. Such collections are often passed on and augmented from generation to generation. Santa Claus is a commonly used figure. Candy canes, fruit, animals, snowmen, angels and snowflake images are also popular choices. Lucretia P. Hale's story "The Peterkins' Christmas-Tree"Lucretia P. Hale, The Peterkin Papers. 1960; Houghton Mifflin offers a short catalog of the sorts of ornaments used in the 1870s: The modern-day mold-blown colored glass Christmas ornament was invented in the small German town of Lauscha in the mid-16th century. Invention , Michoacán, Mexico. The town is known for its production of Christmas ornaments, particularly baubles, with more than 100 million ornaments produced yearly, the majority of which are exported.]] The first decorated trees were adorned with apples, white candy canes and pastries in the shapes of stars, hearts and flowers. Glass baubles were first made in Lauscha, Germany, by Hans Greiner (1550–1609), who produced garlands of glass beads and tin figures that could be hung on trees. The popularity of these decorations grew into the production of glass figures made by highly skilled artisans with clay molds. The artisans heated a glass tube over a flame, then inserted the tube into a clay mold, blowing the heated glass to expand into the shape of the mold. The original ornaments were only in the shape of fruits and nuts. After the glass cooled, a silver nitrate solution was swirled into it, a silvering technique developed in the 1850s by Justus von Liebig. After the nitrate solution dried, the ornament was hand-painted and topped with a cap and hook.Ace Collins Stories Behind the Great Traditions of Christmas. 2003; Zondervan. Export Other glassblowers in Lauscha recognised the growing popularity of Christmas baubles and began producing them in a wide range of designs. Soon, the whole of Germany began buying Christmas glassware from Lauscha. On Christmas Eve 1832, a young Victoria wrote about her delight at having a tree, hung with lights, ornaments, and presents placed round it.The girlhood of Queen Victoria: a selection from Her Majesty's diaries. p.61. Longmans, Green & co., 1912. University of Wisconsin In the 1840s, after a picture of Victoria's Christmas tree was shown in a London newspaper decorated with glass ornaments and baubles from her husband Prince Albert's native Germany, Lauscha began exporting its products throughout Europe. In the 1880s, American F. W. Woolworth discovered Lauscha's baubles during a visit to Germany. He made a fortune by importing the German glass ornaments to the United States. Mass production The first American-made glass ornaments were created by William DeMuth in New York in 1870. In 1880, Woolworth's began selling Lauscha glass ornaments. Other stores began selling Christmas ornaments by the late 19th century and by 1910, Woolworth's had gone national with over 1000 stores bringing Christmas ornaments across America. New suppliers popped up everywhere including Dresden die-cut fiberboard ornaments which were popular among families with small children. By the 20th century, Woolworth's had imported 200,000 ornaments and topped $25 million in sales from Christmas decorations alone. As of 2009, the Christmas decoration industry ranks second to gifts in seasonal sales. Many silver companies, such as Gorham, Wallace, Towle, Lunt and Reed & Barton, began manufacturing silver Christmas ornaments in 1970 and 1971. In 1973, Hallmark Cards started manufacturing Christmas ornaments. The first collection included 18 ornaments, including six glass ball ornaments. The Hallmark Keepsake Ornament collection is dated and available for just one year. By 1998, 11 million American households collected Hallmark ornaments, and 250,000 people were member of the Keepsake Ornament Collector's Club. There were as many as 400 local Keepsake Ornament Collector's Club chapters in the US. One noted Christmas ornament authority is Clara Johnson Scroggins who has written extensively on the topic and has one of the largest private collections of Christmas ornaments. In 1996, the ornament industry generated $2.4 billion in total annual sales, an increase of 25% over the previous year. Industry experts estimated more than 22 million US households collected Christmas ornaments, and that 75% of those households collected Hallmark Keepsake Ornaments. Post World War II bauble purchased in England in 1959]] After World War II, the East German government turned most of Lauscha's glassworks into state-owned entities, and production of baubles in Lauscha ceased. After the Berlin Wall came down, most of the firms were reestablished as private companies. As of 2009, there are still about 20 small glass-blowing firms active in Lauscha that produce baubles. One of the producers is Krebs Glas Lauscha, part of the Krebs family which is now one of the largest producers of glass ornaments worldwide. Modern baubles Although glass baubles are still produced, as expensive good-quality ornaments often found at markets, baubles are now frequently made from plastic and available worldwide in a huge variety of shapes, colors and designs. There are a large number of manufacturers producing sophisticated Christmas glass ornaments in Poland, which produce "bombka" or the plural form "bombki"; and millions of glass-blown Christmas ornaments are made year-round in Tlalpujahua, Michoacan, Mexico, and exported to Spain, New Zealand and France. They are also made in Chignahuapan, Puebla, Mexico. Handcrafted Handcrafted Christmas ornaments have become a staple of craft fairs and many smaller online businesses owing much of the success to both the internet and the growth of craft stores. Types File:Christmas bauble.jpg|Christmas bauble, or ball ornament File:Blue Christmas ornament.jpg|Blue Christmas ornament File:2006 Blue Room Christmas tree - closeup of ornamentation.jpg|Christmas tree snow File:Christmas ornament snowman lights .JPG|Christmas ornament snowman File:Christmas Tree Ornament 2006 - 146F.jpg|Red and gold ornamented Christmas bauble File:Christmas-Angel-Decoration.jpg|Christmas Angel decoration File:Christmas baubles 08 - 01.JPG|A handcrafted Christmas ornament File:Christmas Bears.jpg| Christmas Bear File:Wishing all at Flickr a Grand Christmas and a Joyous New Year! (2093273910).jpg|Giftbearer File:Crochet Xmas ornaments.jpg|Hand-crafted Xmas baubles and ornaments in crochet File:HK TST Silvercord Centre Christmas tree Santa Claus in art Ornaments Dec-2012.jpg| Santa Claus and teddy bear File:End the commercialisation of Christmas (6556334049).jpg|Christmas tree top decoration File:A betty Boop christmas decoration.jpg|Giftbearer File:Christmas owl 08 01.JPG|Christmas owl File:See through painted Christmas bauble on stand.jpg|Large, hand-painted free-blown glass Christmas bauble File:Ornaments in Boxes.jpg|Ornaments in storage boxes File:Bombki ze wstazek.jpg|Polish bombki baubles made with kanzashi method See also * Christmas tree * Pleated Christmas hearts * Snow baby * Tree-topper * Witch ball Notes External links Ornament Ornament Ornament